Australian Open: Elitism of Rod Laver Arena 'feeds overseas players to the lions'

Tim Colebatch

In the argument over the bizarre scheduling at the Australian Open, spare a thought for those people who bought expensive tickets to Rod Laver Arena, expecting to see the match of the day – only to find it was being played on some other court.

OK, it might be hard to feel empathy for the corporate heavies swilling champagne in their boxes, the suits in the President's box, or the posh people able to shell out $250 per couple for a night at the tennis. But try.

Aussie games were put on outside courts where the crowds were stirred up by the Fanatics. Photo: Getty Images

If Hisense Arena and court 3 have become "the people's courts", open to anyone with a cheap ground pass and a willingness to queue, then Rod Laver Arena is the court for the elite. Certainly they have money, but they may be there also because they love tennis.

The Open now has a new policy: all big matches involving up-and-coming Aussie players are put on Hisense, court 3 or Margaret Court Arena, the cheaper venues, and spectators are encouraged to be raucous Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi! Oi! Oi! barrackers.

That doesn't fit in Rod Laver Arena. It's the custodian of an older Australian tradition, from Laver's time, where you came to watch tennis because you love tennis. Sure, you cheer on your own players, but you applaud good shots whoever plays them – and you don't applaud their opponent's errors.

There were exceptions – I confess I was part of a madly partisan crowd who cheered Evonne Goolagong to her first Australian Open championship over Chris Evert in 1974. But overseas players remarked constantly on how fair our crowds were. We were not the Foro Italico in Rome, or the Louis Armstrong stadium in New York, where the locals cheered their own frenetically and booed, even pelted, their opponents. We were fair-minded; it was a great Australian tradition.

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But it is not a tradition today's Open organisers want to encourage. They want us to be like the crowds of Rome, lifting our own players and crushing the spirits of their opponents. That's why, until the quarter-finals, they put all matches involving Nick Kyrgios, Bernard Tomic, Sam Groth, Thanasi Kokkinakis, even Casey Dellacqua, on outside courts, and gave the Fanatics free front-row tickets to get the crowds stirred up.

And it worked: Kokkinakis said he could not have beaten Ernst Gulbis without the court 3 crowd. I suspect that Kyrgios would not have beaten Andreas Seppi without the crowd on Margaret Court Arena. Is that the kind of Open we want to run: one where overseas players are like Christians to be fed to the lions of Rome?

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Beware what you are getting into. Melbourne is not Paris, London or New York. We will host this Grand Slam event only so long as it is one that the world's best players want to be part of.

For 30 years, the Open team, especially under Paul McNamee, have done a terrific job of constant improvement to make this a world-class event. Crowd numbers have soared beyond anyone's imagining. It has become an event that Melburnians want to be part of. But the event must not be allowed to overrule the tennis.

Using court scheduling to try to influence the results is the wrong path: for the players, for the future of the Open – and for the unfortunate customers who paid heavily to get matches that were not the match of the day.

While the crowds outside on the first Friday night were treated to Tomic v Groth, and Kyrgios v Jaziri, those of us who paid big for tickets to Rod got a dull, one-sided match between Nadal and Dudi Sela. On the Sunday night, at least we got Murray v Dimitrov, but the match of the round for Australians was Kyrgios v Seppi, and that was put on HiSense.

I spent little time in my expensive seats on Rod Laver Arena. As a consumer, the lesson I draw is: next time, don't buy them in advance. Wait to see the scheduling, then take your chances on the new ticket exchange site – or save your money and watch the real match of the night on TV.